Police want to place restrictions on using pay-as-you-go phones in a bid to cut down on dangerous county lines drug gangs.

It is hoped by having to register details when taking out a pay as you go phone it will prevent county lines drug gangs across the UK.

Senior detectives and cops want people to have to register their personal details when buying a mobile phone or requesting a replacement SIM Card.

The move will prevent handsets and numbers being used for drug dealings and county lines gangs.

The report was published by the Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS)

The report is also looking ay how forces across the UK can tackle and prevent the increasing county lines drugs gangs with the recommendation that the Home Office carry out a review of the criminal abuse of mobile phones which should “explore” the regulations of the communications industry, adding: “The present arrangements that enable criminality by allowing the anonymous acquisition of phones and numbers, should be re-examined.”

Former police detective Mark Powell, one of the HMIC inspectors who worked on the report has said the impression from police officers on the ground that he’d spoken to was placing restrictions on buying phones anonymously would be welcome and help prevent the crime.

Police Officers have to spend many hours and wasting time trying to prove who owns the mobile phone which is often impossible to admit the evidence to court due to how hard it is to prove ownership of the handsets and SIM cards.

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